The Overseer
by virgo83o
Summary: For as long as Ian has remembered a man that he has come to call Bishop has been there. Though, nobody but Ian can see him. He is always talking to Bishop but he's never said anything back. Not a word in the 16 years of Ians life. He only replies with sim


CHAPTER 1

"You still there?" I asked. As usual, the darkness responded with its usual silence. I gave a laugh at my stupid question. "Oh, of course you're still there. You always are and always will be, right?" I stared at the ceiling, lying on the kitchen hardwood floor. I thought it rather arbitrary that the one person who knows me better than anyone else is anonymous to me. I know nothing of him.

How long have I been doing this, these little therapy sessions with one sided conversations? All those years of calling him Bishop…I wonder what his real name is… I tilted my head, sighing. And there I saw Bishop. My face brightened and I jumped up to hug him when I forced myself down. Every time I try to hug him he just gets further away.

Bishop sat down, and I tilted my head to peer at him. The never changing man, I had frequently told him. The ruffled brown hair and cold black eyes that I found warmness in, even if they were filled with a sadistic bitterness, were so familiar to me. He had five' o'clock shadow and thin black rimmed glasses. I remember once asking why he only wore that black suit with that black tie and never anything else. I mean it was all disheveled and there was a stain on the collar! At the time I had yet to realize just how stoic he was. That his silence was more than that of a mute man, his lack of any ruffling or squeak spoke more to me than his words ever could. Or at least that it is what I assume; after all I never heard him speak in all of those sixteen years I had lived. I've always wondered is Bishop real? Or is he just a figment of my imagination? Am I crazy? Or is he just a stalker only I can see? It seems as if I'll never know….

He fisted his hands together, rested his head on them, and then peered down at me. I let loose a chuckle. "You know the drill right? Really, maybe I rely on you too much." He narrowed his eyes, I closed mine. "Well, I'll go on with it. Today was the same as usual. Although Lynn is starting to ask questions…I'm worried. You see, I've become so accustomed to you that I drop your name every once in awhile. I quickly covered it up every time with an 'Oh, he's my uncle.' Though for every time I say it it's like I shovel more dirt to make my grave. As the new student I didn't expect her to stare at me so suspiciously like everyone else does nearly as soon she did. You know that though, you were there. I mean, c'mon, to the average person I look like someone who belongs in the funny farm. I sit there talking to myself and motioning to things that aren't there. I swear, Bishop, one day I'm gonna get shipped of somewhere and no one will ever hear from me again because I'm gonna be permanently held in an insane asylum." I took a deep breath. When I opened my eyes he was peering over me. I quickly realized from his raised eyebrow what I had said. "Not that I'm blaming you! I'm just saying I look insane and I need to start practicing restraint so as not to attract any more attention." Bishop just gave me a blank stare. "Er…right I'm gonna go to bed."

I walked to my bedroom, Bishop never walking but always appearing in my sight ahead of me. I put on my pajamas and had a quick thought. Is Bishop a pervert? I mean he watches me change, take showers…why have I never thought of this till now? I shrugged it off. He was there when I was born and he will be there when I die. What sense in worrying about it now. Bishop, I realized, was right in front of me, his face inches from mine, his head tilted to the side. I had been standing there motionless and he must have been curious as to why. I muttered a quick 'whatever, it was nothing' and crawled into bed. I settled in and said good night to Bishop standing over my bed, unblinking. As uncanny as it seemed, the fact that he would be in that exact position and would never leave comforted me immensely. I closed my eyes with a sense of comfort.

Chapter 2

_Beep, beep, beep-_

Oh my God, how I hate that noise. I rummaged through the stuff on my desk until my hand finally hit the off button. "G'mornin, Bishop." I rolled out of bed and shuffled my way to the shower. On my way out of it I tripped. "Ow." I droned in a monotone voice. Bishop's mouth twitched. "Shut up, it wasn't funny." I struggled to get up when I slipped on the bathroom linoleum.

"Honey, that you? You okay?" My mother said, sounding quite drunk on sleep.

"Yeah, I'm good. Just fell. Twice. Go back to sleep." I looked at my reflection checking my face in the bathroom mirror. I ran my hands through my black hair. God, my eyes are red. I couldn't even tell they were blue. I put on my T-shirt and jeans, and hopped in my red 2007 Jeep Wrangler Rubicon, my father's. He was currently fighting on the Iraq war, a marine. I looked to the passenger seat, Bishop was looking ahead. What he could be peering at so intently I couldn't fathom. We lived in St. Helena, California. Really, the town couldn't have more than 6,000 people. "Bishop. What is it?" I followed where his eyes were looking and saw him staring at Lynn, who was gaping at us. "Bishop, I feel stupid that I never asked this," I asked while returning my eyes back to the road, Bishop just kept staring at her. "Are you, what, a ghost, an angel?" For the first time Bishop made a smile. It wasn't a smile he made out of humor. The smile didn't reach his eyes and the corners didn't wrinkle either. He thought what I had said was pitifully ridiculous! "Okay, well that's just mean. You're an ass. Sometimes the fact you have no means of communication, or maybe you just don't want to, is really annoying. That's stupid though. I mean, silence for 16 years or more?"

I left the conversation at that not like he was going to contribute to it though. We pulled up to school and I headed to class. Bishop was peering off from corners at me, but never walked there. I sauntered into my first class, Trigonometry. I suppose I was smart for an 11th grader, but I like to say it's all Bishop's doing. Whenever I got something wrong he would shake his head no, if right he would nod. So I asked to borrow Algebra 2 and Pre-Calculus books and read them and tried to do the problems. By having Bishop always there to confirm the answers I slowly realized how to do the work.

Lynn walked in as I was reminiscing. Damn, she ruined our beautiful memory. I laughed, I actually kinda liked Lynn. She saw me and gave an awkward smile. "Hi, Ian," I merely nodded in return. She came and sat next to me.

"So. Ian, we need to talk." Aw, crap. I looked at Bishop and muttered, "I told you so." I turned my attention back to her with a grin and she had a morbidly serious expression. My grin disappeared.

"What?"

"I've asked around and, Ian, people tell me you've been talking to this Bishop for like ever."

"You mean my uncle. Well, duh. I mean, I've known him for like ever." I mocked her. All it did was piss her off though.

"I'm serious. You talk to air. You refer to it as Bishop! What is Bishop like a dead person and you miss him so you refer to everything as him. You're cute and all but your mind is seriously jacked up." She crossed he arms and gave a haughty huff.

"Bishop," I started, "isn't dead. Nor is he alive. He's just there. Always has been." She stared at me with skepticism. "I'm utterly serious! Here give me any question. Bishop is a genius, he always knows the answer." She gave me the cosine formula, something the class hadn't worked in yet. I looked up at her and said, "He doesn't talk, write, or touch things."

"Oh well isn't that convenient!" Lynn sighed and pulled out a medical book to a random page. She cut me off before I could ask why she had it. "Okay, Bishop, Just before leaving the heart to go to the lungs, blood must pass through a smooth-walled region called the bulbus cordis, sinus venosus, conus arteriosus, or pulmonary trunk."

I turned to Bishop with unwillingness and said, "The first one?" He nodded. "You sure?" Bishop raised his eyebrow. "Right, I should stop asking you that. You know everything.

"Okay Lynn, Bishop says it's the first one. What was that, bulb cords?" She narrowed her eyes. Her breathing got shorter with irritation.

"I don't know what game you're playing, but pretending things like that is just ridiculous. You need to stop being such a freak. Maybe you could be popular and have real friends." She spun around and stomped her way to her desk. I started to laugh and I couldn't stop. Everyone in the class turned to me and Lynn started to turn red. Bishop just stood there with his hands folded.

"My God, Lynn. No wonder Bishop never liked you. You are so…spirited, so stupid, and such a total bitch," I broke out into a giggling fit. Bishop snapped his fingers and I stopped instantly. "You're right, I'm sorry. I apologize Lynn, everyone. I'm gonna play hooky now, 'Kay?" I jolted out of seat suddenly, shoved my hands in my pockets, and strolled out. On my way out I was smirking, everyone was wide eyed. I had never done something so openly insulting. It was fun! Such a rush of adrenaline! I even told Bishop of how I felt. Although… Did I just do something that I truly shouldn't have done? Did I just blow my cover of being a normal teenage kid? Was I now dubbed insane? I mean, my life was never normal, but people talked to me and I was called by my name. Would people start to go out of their way to avoid me and when they said hello would they say high to Bishop even though no one could see him just to mock me? That thought was disturbing beyond belief….

Chapter 3

"Ian! Wait!" Lynn yelled. What is wrong with her? I turned around and she stood still in her tracks. She started to walk instead of run. She caught up, out of breath. "What the hell was that? You humiliated me in front of the whole class!"

"You did the same thing. It was justified."

"No one is justified to do that."

"Then only you are? What makes you so special?" I said sarcastically. She started to stammer.

"Well, I-I just," she gave up trying to say it. "Why do you insist Bishop is real?"

"Because he is." I turned to him and he had that blank emotionless look as he stared at her. "Bishop, I never wanted this, but can you show yourself?" He nodded. "Can you see him, Lynn?"

"No."

"Bishop, what the hell," Bishop turned to me and said his first words.

"I won't." His voice was monotone, but it was soft. If I had heard the voice but never saw where it came from then I would have assumed I was crazy. Who would have such a voice? It had an underlying tone of boredom, it sounded like he was talking to kid but it sounded like the voice of a killer.

"I heard that…" Lynn said. I couldn't see her face because I couldn't keep my eyes of Bishop who was smiling at me. "Ian, please tell me what was it that said those words."

"I'm not sure."

"Now that you insist on me talking I would like to suggest something." Bishop approached me and whispered, "Kill her."

Chapter 4

"Why?" A wave of tranquility drowned me. His logic poured into my conscience like a stream. "You know what? You're right. I should." Bishop smiled. I never felt so happy.

"I'm so proud of you, Ian." He started to grin. This one actually reached his eyes. "Bring her home with you, we'll have a talk." For the first time since Bishop talked I looked at Lynn. She appeared to be drugged.

"Lynn?" I said, "You okay?" Drool started to leak out of her mouth. Oh well, I shrugged. I took her hand and she followed like a small child. I led her to the Jeep and laid her in the back. I hopped into the driver seat and started to turn my key when I stopped.

"What is it, Ian?" I had realized how sick this was. I was going to kill a girl because Bishop told me to. And why did he? Because she knew too much? "No, Ian. That is not why." He reads minds? "I suppose. Couldn't you just address yourself to me, my child?"

"What are you, my priest?"

"Silence. Don't treat me with such disrespect." He snapped back at me.

"I'm sorry, Bishop. Just why am I killing her?" I asked softly. Talking to him gave me a thrill. This thrill, though, made me feel disgust for myself. I felt like at any moment he could kill me in an intensely painful way all because I had pressed him the wrong way. I'm so sick. "Is there even a reason? I'm not a killer. I really don't think I have the balls to kill her."

"Oh, yes you do. I remember some of your reactions and I was thrilled with them. You are turning into a very beautiful experiment, Ian. There is so much I have to teach you." I felt blissful basking in his praise. "The reason I, we are going to kill her is to teach you both a lesson. You will learn a life lesson and to never share my existence again. She needs to learn to not be so nosy and obnoxious." He sighed in contentment. These were his first signs of humanity. He never showed such emotions, although these reactions were slightly disturbing… "Okay, stop thinking. You are insulting to your species." Alrighty then. That would pull anyone out of their thoughts. I turned the key put the car in gear. "Ian."

"Um, yeah?" I was staring to perspire.

"I scare you that much?" He snorted arrogantly and there was a moment of silence. "Are you really sure that you are no killer?" Of course I wasn't sure! The closest to killing somebody I've come near is playing Call of Duty online!!! Something only I see is telling me to kill someone. And I'm listening to it! Oh my God. "Hey, didn't I tell you to stop doing that. It's mean to think about someone as if they weren't here.

"It doesn't matter anyway. You will adjust and discover how to be one. It will bring me great joy to see the likes of you bathed in blood." I merely nodded. I checked in my rearview to check upon my soon to be victim. "All I did was turn her fear upon herself. Oh, turn here." I did as I was told. It was an old cement parking structure. No one used it because it had never been re-enforced for earthquakes. "I have taken the liberty of arranging the top floor. Carry her will you, I think I pushed her too much and she's fainted." Oh, well, great. I opened the back door and dragged her out by her ankles and she nearly collapsed on the floor. I reached to pick her up when Bishop said, "Don't even bother carrying her. She's going to die soon anyway. You need to save the energy to kill her." I obeyed him and started to drag her to the parking structure by her wrists.

Chapter 5

"My God she's really heavy for a girl. Hey, Bishop, I have a great idea! Why don't you help." Bishop stopped, I stopped. He turned his head to me and raised an eyebrow. "Never mind. It's all good. Whatever." We had entered the first floor by then when I saw there was no elevator. "Oh hell no. I am NOT dragging Lynn up all those inclines. What if a car sees us?"

"Fear not. We are going this way." He turned to the right and we, I mean he walked. I dragged a hundred twenty something pound girl. This sucks. "Here." He pointed to a door and it opened.

"Oh my God he's a wizard."

"No, no I'm not. That's preposterous." I let a sigh out and dragged Lynn to the door. Then I realized there were stairs.

"Oh, well you just love to make this difficult for me. Screw this." I dropped her arms and sat upon the steps. Bishop looked at me through his glasses and looked rather solemn and disappointed. He shook his head tsking.

"Tsk tsk tsk. Fore shame you dear thing I am so distraught I thought more of you than this. If you don't wish to drag her up this flight of stairs then we will kill her right here and now. Anyone who happens to come across you then they shall die by your hand as well." He peered at me sideways and I just stared at him in disgust. The thought of killing anybody else made my head spin. I once again grabbed her wrists and started backwards up the stairs.

Her head was constantly hitting the steps; she'll definitely have a concussion by the time we're where we need to go. I wanted to pick her up but Bishop wouldn't allow it. He simple said the same thing as he had before "She'll be dead soon enough anyway, no need for the wasted energy." I cringed whenever he said that.

After going up maybe 4 flights of stairs Bishop stopped us to a halt. When I looked up with my back cracking and my neck killing me, I saw what Bishop meant by "I've taken the liberty to rearrange the top floor".

Chapter 6


End file.
